The origin of
the Fainting goat has been
traced back to the 1880's in Marshall County, Tennessee. A man by the name
of John Tinsley came to town bringing along 4 goats and a cow. He sold his
goats to a man by the name of R. Goode. Fainting goats descended from those
few goats.

The other is that
there was a spontaneous mutation of a herd in Tennessee about 1885 which
resulted in the recessive gene.

Main Location

These goats
are one of the few that are indigenous to the U.S. Most of these goats that
are found in Tennessee and the eastern U.S. are smaller, while most Texas
herds tend to be somewhat larger. This is probably due to selective
breeding for the meat market. In fact, some ranchers have renamed them
Tennessee Meat Goats.

They have now
been discovered as excellent crossbreed stock for the Boer goat, a meat goat
which was imported from South Africa

The myotonic
gene is recessive, therefore it is usually not expressed in crossbred
animals.

The American
Livestock Breed Conservancy has placed this breed of goat on their "rare"
list, with an estimated world population of under 10,000.

Myotonic
means when they are frightened or excited they "lock up" and sometimes fall
over (faint) very stiff. It does not hurt the goat and the effect only
lasts for 10-15 seconds and goes away. It is an over-simplification, but
the chemicals which are rushed to humans' muscles and joints to prepare them
for "fight or flight" are withheld in the Myotonic under exciting or
frightful circumstances.

Tennessee
Fainting Goats which have been selected for meat production are heavy rumped,
deep chested animals. They come in all colors and can occasionally have
blue eyes too. Does are typically easy kidders and have good milk
production. They are good mothers so in most cases a bonding pen is not
needed.

Twins are the
norm, but they frequently have triplets. Quadruplets and quintuplets are
also possible.

Females are
polyestrous, which means they come into heat year round. They can remain in
heat anywhere from 1-3 days.

These goats
have about 40% more meat than a comparablysized goat.
Fainting goats have bulgy eyes very long ears.

Cashmere can
be harvested for spinning.

Since they are not good climbers and jumpers, the
Tennessee Fainting Goats are somewhat easier to keep than other goats.

They were also used to protect sheep. With a Fainting goat in the herd if
coyotes or dogs threatened the sheep, the sheep could run away while the
Fainting goat fell over, providing the predator with an easy meal while the
sheep escaped.These goats were close to extinction by the 1980's